Cigar-box



(No Model.) F FUCHS.

' CIGAR BOX- No. 554,592.. Patented Feb. 11,1896. I

" INVENTOH A TTORNE Y8.

ANDREW IB.GRAHAM PNOTO-LITNQWASHINGTOM D C UNTTED STATES PATENT GEEIcE.

\VILLIAM F. FUCHS, OF GALENA, ILLINOIS.

CIGAR-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 554,592, dated February 11, 1896. Application filed May 16, 1895. $erial No. 549,577. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM F. FUCHS, of Galena, in the county of Jo Daviess and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cigar-Boxes, of which the followingis a full,clear,and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in cigar-boxes and other boxes, and it has for its object to provide a box with a false bottom capable of being raised and lowered, and with means for holding the bottom in the position to which it has been adjusted, the manipulation of the bottom being expeditiously and conveniently accomplished from the upper portion of the box.

Another object of the invention is to provide a box especially adapted for holding cigars, in which ribbons or tapes will be employed for manipulating the false bottom, and in which also springs will be used on said bottom, preventing the cigars from becoming loosened during transportation, the lifting tapes or ribbons being likewise employed for holding bundles of cigars in position in the box.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide a cigar-boxwith an adjustable false bottom, so constructed that the cigars may be packed upon said bottom from the top of the box, the bottom being adjusted downward as row after row of cigars are placed in position.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved cigar-box. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section taken substantially on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the auxiliary or false bottom, viewed from its under side:

In carrying out the invention the box A may be of any approved construction, and may be and preferably is provided with a top 15, hinged or otherwise secured to the box. The box is furthermore provided with a bottom 0 auxiliary to the main bottom D, as shown in Fig. 2. The auxiliary or false bottom 0 is made to correspond to the interior contour of the box-body and is capable of vertical adjustment therein, fitting somewhat snugly to the walls of the said body. As shown in Fig. 3, the auxiliary or false bottom is provided with spurs 10, of a spring material, at or near its corners, the said spurs being secured on the under face of the bottom, and they extend a predetermined distance beyond the ends thereof. Usually and preferably these spurs are given a downward inclination at their extremities, having indentures 1O made therein to facilitate shaping them. Between each set of spurs a spring 11, usually a strap-spring, is secured upon the bottom, the attachment being at the center of the spring; and the springs are located adjacent to the end edges of the said bottom, the free ends of the springs being curved downward to rest upon the main bottom of the box.

In practice each set of spurs and the intermediate spring 11 is made from a single piece of spring material, the spurs being connected by a base-bar 12, and the bar is connected with the spring 11 by means of a shank 13. Recesses 14 are made in the inner faces of the end walls of the box at the bottom portions thereof, and these recesses are located opposite the spurs 10, or in position to permit of the spurs entering them, and, furthermore, the outer wall of each recess is given an upward and inward inclination, as shown in Fig. 2. The plate is usually secured to the bottom by spurs.

Tapes or ribbons 15 are secured usually to each end portion of the auxiliary or false bottom, and these tapes are used for lifting the bottom in an upwardly direction, and may likewise be employed for holding bundles of cigars in place in the box. .These tapes are ordinarily secured to the under face of the auxiliary bottom between the spurs and the under face of the bottom, as shown in Fig. 3. Vhen the auxiliary bottom is placed in the body of the box, the cigars may be packed thereon from the top, and the bottom gradually forced downward until the box is filled, or has received its quota of cigars,whereupon the spurs 10 will enter the recesses 14. As the cigars are used or taken from the box the auxiliary or false bottom is carried upward to bring the upper row substantially flush with the top of the box-body through the medium of the tapes or ribbons 15, and it is obvious that as the auxiliary bottom is drawn upward from its position on the main bottom the inclined walls of the recesses 14: will give to the spurs a decided downward inclination and cause them to adhere firmly to the ends of the box, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, when the auxiliary bottom is carried upward.

When the box is filled with cigars and the lid is closed, the cigars will not be shifted from proper position under transportation, since the auxiliary bottom will give to a greater or less extent, owing to its supportingsprings 11,wliich rest normally upon the main bottom of the box.

It is evident that a box of this construction may be used as a receptacle for any articles adapted to be displayed.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, with a box, of an auxiliary bottom, spring-spurs projecting from opposite ends of the bottom, being downwardly curved at their free ends which are adapted for engagement with the side walls of the box, springs integral with the plates on which the spurs are formed, and tapes attached to the auxiliary bottom and extending upward therefrom within the box proper, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with a box'having recesses formed in opposite sides at the bottom thereof, the said recesses being providedwith inclined walls, of an auxiliary or false bottom provided with spring-spurs extending beyond opposite ends and adapted to enter the recesses in the box and for engagement with the sides thereof, springs integral with the plate on which the spring-spurs are formed and located between said spurs upon the said auxiliary bottom and adapted to rest upon the main bottom of the box, and tapes leading upward from the said auxiliarybottom within the body of the box, as specified.

\VILLIAM F. FUCHS.

W'itnesses Tnos. J. SHEEAN, DAVID SI-IEEAN. 

